2013 Year in Reverse

Well folks, it's time to say goodbye to another year. We've met some pretty interesting folks and attended many grassroots events along the way. We were able to cover more of this great land of ours due to the new contributors for the site. Each one helped us shed focus on local shops and personalities that some of us didn't know existed. Here's some of the features we had over the past year.

(click images to read original ChopCult news feature)

December

The Shortster by Barnstorm Cycles and Special 79

Show Class Magazine's People Champ Top 24 + 1

November

Garage Co Customs' David Chopperfeild

Randy Horseman's Burly Cafe Build

October

Greasy Dozen 2013 Unveil and 2014 Kick Off

Gypsy Run 7

September

Artist Showcase: Lanakila MacNaughton

Boni Killer by Casey " Headcase" Johnson

Road to Valhalla 2013

August

21 Questions with Scott "T Bone " Jones of Noise Cycles

CALIFORNIA OR BUST II

Hood Bush 2013

July

Lowbrow Getdown

Born Free 5 Show 2013

June

Biltwell's 08 Triumph Bonneville R&D Mule

Focus: El Diablo Run 2013

May

The Locust by Josh Kurpius

Inside Indian Larry Motorcycles

April

The New Yorker

Totally Overkill Frame Table with Barnstorm Cycles

March

The Daily: Dan's Bad Habit

The Green Hornet from Cheapskate Cycles

February

The Scrambler by Burly Brand

Hog Killers Sweet 1976 Shovelhead

January

Show Class Magazine's "Born Free People's Champ 2013"

The Unexpected by Kevin Moore

Even after the sale of the site, our direction has remained the same; attain good content, create a welcoming atmosphere in the forums and continue to grow our social media presence. The welcoming atmosphere has been our main challenge due to the Internet Outlaws out there. I know we all have opinions and are entitled to express ourselves but I also feel it can be done in a positive manner. There’s no need to attack someone personally because their taste is not your flavor. I’m very lucky to have Allen, CRFyou, Nina and Jetblack as moderators as they shed focus on moving forward and eliminate those who bash others.

This year also shed light on the free classified section; we have tightened the bolts and hope the scammers disappear from the site. We highly recommend that you use an escrow service (such as www.escrow.com) for large amounts to prevent fraudulent deals; it gives the Buyer the chance to get his/her money back before funds are released to the seller. This service charges $25.00 for a purchase up to $500.00 so up your price to accrue the handling fee and have the piece of mind you rightly deserve. In the end, there will always be people looking for a way to screw others. It’s our job to eliminate and ban them from the site to protect you. Please keep in mind that the deal is between you and the seller and never send cash as a gift.

Our social media presence has grown immensely over the past year. Our Facebook page has seen the biggest growth, which started at 19k and now sits at 173k. Instagram has climbed to a whopping 14k and our blog just reached 50,000 true looks; both of these outlets came to life in February We have tried to understand the sudden growth and believe it’s because of our ongoing relationships with our advertisers. We have been cross promoting with many through our Chop Cult giveaways, here on the site and through Facebook and Instagram. We believe it’s very important to support those who support us, our advertisers believe in our community and that’s huge for us. We would like to thank Lowbrow Customs, Biltwell Inc, Burly Brand, Loser Machine, Bison Motorsports, Voodoo Vintage, Harley – Davidson, Industrial Parts House, Genuine Motorworks, Indian Larry Motorcycles, The Speed Merchant, Law Tigers, TC Bros Choppers, Old Bike Barn, Choppahead Kustoms Cycles, Kickstart Cycles, So Cal Swapmeet, NorCal Cycle Swap, Zombie Performance, Deadbeat Customs, Throttle Addiction, S&S Cycles, Bung King, Old Stf,Speed Dealer Customs, No School Choppers, Rolling Heavy Magazine, Custom Vanner Magazine and Cycle Source Magazine for their ongoing support in 2014. Do us a favor and give their world a follow on Facebook and Instagram.

On a personal note, I would like to thank you for continuing to support Chop Cult. I appreciate everyone coming together when there was a need to do so. I would also like to thank Bear Haughton, Mikey Arnold, Jay Roche, Jacob Culter, Kevin Moore, Tim Lind, Debbie Fitch, Jessica Stopnik, Elvis Castillo, Mark Kawakami and Matt Storms for their time and talent. A special thanks goes out Harold McGruther and Bill Bryant for their never ending support. Most people would simply walk away from a sale but they stuck around to make sure I didn’t fail. For me that’s the beauty of this community, through thick and thin, we have each others backs.

From all of us at the CC headquarters, we would wish you the very best for 2014.